Hi, honey

Apples and honey are a traditional way to welcome the new year, apples for the harvest and honey for a sweet year to come. And the apples are great, but it's really all about the honey.

For the past several years, we have taken a small escargot plate and filled the divots with different honeys. It turns the simple act of dipping apples in honey into a gourmet tasting event. (We use a variety of apples as well.) Because we pick up fun or unusual honeys when we travel, it also becomes a springboard to memories of recent trips. Like a photo album you can eat.

This year we had a wildflower honey from midcoast Maine, where we rented a vacation house last spring. We also had a honey we picked up in Hawaii at the Hilo farmer's market. The seller marks each jar with the month of collection and the flowers in bloom at that time, and this was our favorite of the vintages he had when we were there. The third honey was a lemon honey that neither of us like on baked goods, but is pleasantly tart on apples. Lisa and I both came home one miserable winter day each having independently purchased a jar of that lemon honey to put in hot water to soothe our sore throats. Fourth was a tulip poplar honey Lisa found at an Amish seller's stall at Reading Terminal Market when she was in Philadelphia on a work trip. It tastes like molasses, and was my favorite honey until we found the Hawaiian honey. Then a crystallized honey with candied ginger mixed in, a treat from a wonderful Edinburgh cheese shop. And the last was a raspberry flavored "killer bee" honey butter given to us as a wedding favor at my cousin's wedding in April. He and his bride had run across the honey on their travels in the southwestern US, and correctly thought it would make a funny, memorable, and tasty gift for their guests.

If you decide to try a honey flight, it's important to consider the ordering or the pairings. Like a good wine or cheese flight, you want to leave the stronger flavors for later so the palette is not overwhelmed early by a more aggressive serving. Lisa's great at that, so if you need help, just send her full jars that you're considering using. She'll try them all, enjoy most of them, and probably even tell you which ones she'd like more of.